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Current News: South Korea’s female skaters under fire for bullying

Three South Korean female skaters who performed in the 500-meter team pursuit quarterfinals event at PyeongChang last Monday is under fire for bullying. After their ‘odd’ performance, Olympic viewers criticized the actions of the two members. Check out this article by The Korea Herald.

South Korean speedskater Noh Seon-yeong (far right) falls far behind during the 500 meters team pursuit quarterfinals at PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, on Monday. Her teammates, Kim Bo-reum and Park Ji-woo (left) zoomed by and crossed the finish line without her. (Yonhap)/ Via The Korea Herald

The three-member team — Kim Bo-reum, Noh Seon-yeong and Park Ji-woo — looked almost as if they were competing in an individual race, not a team pursuit. When Noh Seon-yeong, one of the team members, fell a long way behind during the race, the remaining two skaters — Park and Kim — left her behind and crossed the finish line without her. Noh, who couldn’t manage to narrow the gap, came in almost four seconds after her teammates. As the rankings in team pursuit events are decided on the time the third skater in each team crosses the finish line, leaving Noh by herself seemed like a strange decision for many watchers. Unsurprisingly, the Korean team failed to advance to the semifinals, finishing seventh. But what looked like an unusual move soon triggered a storm of online speculation about bullying, leading angry fans to sign a petition asking the presidential office to expel Park and Kim from the South Korean Olympic team. As of Tuesday afternoon, some 222,000 people had signed the petition against the Park and Kim’s purported bullying.